ASCAP and the NMPA in the US have slammed internet radio platform Pandora after it acquired a terrestrial radio station in a bid to qualify for licensing terms granting lower royalty payments.

In a statement given to Billboard, ASCAP president Paul Williams accused Pandora of “trying every trick in the book to brazenly and unconscionably underpay and take advantage of the creative labor that produces the core offering of their business - music written by individual songwriters and composers”